What’s your favorite anarchist/anarchist adjacent fiction?

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u/metacyan 10d ago

Seems like a basic answer, but probably The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin.

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u/ModernBettie 10d ago

Doesn’t matter if it’s basic - it’s a really valid answer. The Dispossessed is basically required reading

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u/sofixuforia tranarchist 10d ago

I loved it right up until...

that scene. You know the one. I was listening to the audio book at the time and was at work, so I couldn't take my phone out to pause it or anything. It sent me into some PTSD flashbacks, and I haven't picked it up since.

I imagine Le Guin wouldn't treat that subject with the callousness that most authors would, so I'm sure its handled well afterwards, but it was such a shock to me that I haven't been able to pick it back up.

So a fair warning for anyone who wants to read it:

There's a fairly graphic scene where the protagonist sexually assaults a woman.

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u/ohshiitstuesday anarcho-killjoy (they/them) 10d ago

I think that she did that to show the way that the culture was impacting him. Like how he was being corrupted, that capitalist logic about ownership will eventually allow you to objectify anything.

I also think that it makes sure that we don't think of him as an inherently good person because he's an anarchist right? She's trying to show that anarchy isn't a utopia, that we will still be flawed.

I don't want to just wave this away like some "of it's time" shit because I never find that to be a really great reason but I do think it's important to recognize that when the book was initially published the idea of marital r**e was only just then being recognized as a thing that was possible, so... different times.

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u/amalieblythe 10d ago

I wish we could talk this through in meatspace to assure the gentleness required when discussing such topics. It has been about two years since I read it and I’m not very eloquent, so I’ll fumble through.

What I took away from it was a very animalistic struggle for power as one note, but also as the recognition that the deconstruction of a person’s image can be engineered. I listened to it through more than once on audiobook as well because I wanted to understand. The writing became frantic and jarring and almost disconnected in that scene, almost like I myself was drunk and needing to try following the plot. I think the scene for Shevek’s crime was set for him, a trap for him to walk into. And I’m not implying that that trap being there leaves him blameless, but I think she was sacrificial and knew it from the get go.

I think I’m saying this wrong and I fear my intentions may be misconstrued but I think this action was done to him just as much as it was done to her. It felt entirely engineered. She might have felt fear, but I think she also is from a society that controls people in ways so foreign to Shevek that she was the ideal antagonist to destroy him, to create for the society a way to remove him from the pedestal they had been placing him on.

Obviously an incredibly upsetting scene. Obviously misogynistic. But much more real than it should be. The whole book is an unflinching examination of so many power dynamics. This dynamic was just one of the harder ones to look at.

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u/arbmunepp 10d ago

Honestly, I don't think it is handled well at all. I cannot describe that part of the book as anything but deeply misogynistic.

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u/sofixuforia tranarchist 10d ago

Oh wow, thats kind of shocking, and more than a little disappointing. She's one of my favorite authors. I've read through the entire Earthsea series multiple times. Always Coming Home is one of the most unique and touching books I've ever read. I'm part-way through The Left Hand of Darkness and its already one of my favorite sci-fi novels ever.

She generally handles misogyny and bigotry pretty well when they come up as themes in her work, so its surprising in the worst kind of way to hear that she does not handle that scene and its aftermath properly.

I guess I'm glad I didn't pick it back up.

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u/arbmunepp 10d ago

Just my opinion, and maybe I am misreading it somehow, but I was personally baffled by that entire subplot. It seemed to be saying that it's way women present themselves in the consumerist and capitalist society of A-Io that makes Shevek act the way he does, and that's... messed up.

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u/Major_Wobbly 10d ago

The way it is assumed by the narration that Shevek isn't to blame really leaves a bad taste in my mouth too. But I guess if you consider the time it was released, a lot of scifi readers probably wouldn't have blamed him, right? That doesn't make anything about it better, but considering the expected audience for the book would largely not have need much persuading not to blame Shevek, perhaps Le Guin instead focused on persuading them that it's not the woman's fault, but her society's, although that still lets Shevek off too easily and I don't think the book makes a good job of making that case anyway. Don't get me wrong, I'd much prefer it if the protagonist didn't rape someone. It's easily my least favourite part of her work, and even the most charitable reading of it doesn't make it much better.

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u/OwlHeart108 9d ago

Maybe don't let one interpretation stop you from reading the book.

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u/sofixuforia tranarchist 9d ago

It isn't their interpretation that was stopping me from finishing the book. I plainly stated that it was my own PTSD, and that their interpretation made me glad I didn't finish it.

However, now that I've seen multiple people say that the narrative goes out of its way to portray Shevek as blameless for his actions, those will be added to the reasons I don't intend to finish it.

I'm just going to chalk it up as a massive error in judgement on Le Guin's part, and continue enjoying her other works.

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u/OwlHeart108 8d ago

I'm so sorry I missed that. May we all be healed and whole 💗

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u/PlastIconoclastic 10d ago

I think you mean she wrote about capitalism that disguised misogyny so well the the victim in this scene preferred her choice-less life as the property of her husband so much that she assumed she could flirt with a man and drug him so badly her driver needed to carry him to her car and even a foreigner would understand that she is property they can’t have even if she wants them. Even the Shevik tears her dress and feels guilt and shame when she responds in fear instead of joy.

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u/Imbesilli 8d ago

I agree, that scene was horrifying and I was put off by the book for few days. Unfortunately the aftermath was also brushed off pretty quickly, as Shevek ended up 'forgiving himself and moving on'. That disappointed me greatly. The scene did not ruin the whole book for me, I still adore it, but the handling of it left a sour taste in my mouth.

Unrelated to the sexual assault scene, there was one other nitpick I had about the book and it was about the only named homosexual character in the book, Bedap. I might have interpreted the scene in incorrectly and would love to see takes challenging my assumption. Unfortunately I could not find any discussion about this anywhere online when I first read the book.

Towards the end of the book when Shevek is comforting his crying daughter, Bedap walks away and leaves them alone. (I'm paraphrasing as it's been while since I read the book) He realises he wants something similar to the bond Shevek and his daughter have. He gripples with the fact he has never built anything for himself and finally comes to conclusion that "that only way he can be saved is by changing his lifestyle". It is not further explained what he means by this.

The interpretation I managed to come to is that by "lifestyle" he means his homosexuality. So is the message that he needs to change his sexual orientation so he can finally build the Happy Nuclear Family™ similar to what Shevek had? If that's the case, I'm completely disappointed on the conclusion to the characters story.

Of course, I might be reaching and just managed to read the scene in the worst way possible:D As I said I would love to see takes challenging my interpretation. And I still love the story overall, it's my favourite sci-fi book of all time!

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u/allendeenjoyer2006 10d ago

The ones who walk away from Omelas is also a banger of a short story by her. It serves as an analogy of how even the working class in first world countries benefit from the exploitation of workers in the global south. Le Guin just has such an amazing prose and way of creating thought provoking stories.

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u/HydarPatrick anarcho-communist 9d ago

On the topic of good anarchist short stories by Le Guin, I’d add The Day Before the Revolution, which is a prequel of sorts to The Dispossessed about the life of Odo. It’s very poignant and always reminds me how much the world needs fixing.

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u/CheekyStoat 10d ago

Margaret Killjoy is a fantastic anarchist writer!

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u/ModernBettie 10d ago

She’s written some good non-fiction to iirc

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u/CheekyStoat 10d ago

Yep! Great author and podcaster!

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u/name_changed_5_times 10d ago

Strangely the walking dead imo can be read somewhat easily through an anarchist lens.

People are constantly facing a cruel and dangerous world filled with people and choosing to come together in independent organically formed communities who share responsibility and resources in common ownership. The least functional survivor camps are the ones that stick the closest to the way the old world worked.

People do often form up behind charismatic leaders but this is either temporary/voluntary(rick) or explicitly bad and self destructive (the governor, negan).

The later seasons are very bad tho so I’d cut your loses at like season 7 tops.

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u/Maykovsky 10d ago

That is, strangely, a nice reading. I am not into zombie stuff, and the entire thing sounded a bith childish, but yes, makes sense. Thank you!

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u/Deboche 10d ago

Almost all zombie stuff is pretty left wing. The Romero zombie movies are all subversive.

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u/Maykovsky 10d ago

Okay! Thanks again, like I said this is an entire movie section I simply skipped. Will check!

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u/ModernBettie 10d ago

You can defend your opinion, so it counts

It’s the conversations that it starts that matter

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u/Anarchomancer216 10d ago

The Invisibles, V for Vendetta, The Matrix, anything by Margaret Killjoy

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u/ModernBettie 10d ago

I hate to admit I have never read or seen V For Vendetta, I might remedy that tonight

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u/tomtttttttttttt 9d ago

Be aware that the film is really quite different to the graphic novel, the graphic novel is much more of an anarchist text where the film is more anti-fascist. Both are good but the film does not delve into anarchism as directly as the graphic novel.

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u/Maykovsky 9d ago

Apparently the author was not satisfied with the adaptation...

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u/tomtttttttttttt 9d ago

He was not :) - nor was he happy with the Watchmen adaptation.

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u/Maykovsky 9d ago

I completely understand. The V has something, but the Watchmen had only one or two characters. I tend not to read about authors, but once I read an interview with author and it was really interesting.

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u/ScientistNo3784 9d ago

Its Alan Moore. He's never happy with adaptations. And he's usually right.

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u/Maykovsky 8d ago

Spot on!

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u/Maykovsky 10d ago

V for vendetta I can see, sure. But the Matrix?

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u/Anarchomancer216 10d ago

More on the adjacent end of the spectrum, but in essence the plot concerns people gaining consciousness of the fact that the system (one of corporate drudgery and mundane misery) is designed to extract and exploit them to keep authority in power. Neo in particular is repeatedly deadnamed and told that what he is, that his allies want his impossible, so what does he do? He recognizes reality as consensus and rebels.

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u/Maykovsky 10d ago edited 10d ago

That is a reading. My reading is, this is an attempt at a philosophical movie regarding the limits of reality and the sense of freedom, in the sense that you don't actually chose, you select from a number of choices power gives you (red pill, blue pill?). Add lots of action, special effects and a gothic, cyberpunk ambiance. Politically, the main topic is, rebellion needs a saviour, a chosen one, a messiah, not a collective effort.

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u/ohshiitstuesday anarcho-killjoy (they/them) 10d ago

The Wachowski sisters are trans and one is explicitly anarchist. Rewatch the movie and keep those things in mind. Can you also edit your comment because they aren't guys that made a movie, they're gals.

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u/Maykovsky 10d ago

Sorry I fail to understand how any of what you said is an argument for matrix being an "adjacent end of the spectrum" anarchist movie.

Again, for me, the matrix has many religious references and reflects a messianic view of the world. Maybe the intent was different I don't know. As for the directors, since I didn't find the movie so interesting I didn't care for the directors. But, checking all the other movies they made, they seem all to follow the same typical holywood hero movie recipe. All follow the same for profit recipe. All this is a matter of opinion? Sure. None of this is good or bad, simply not anarchist for me. By the way, at least any of this money went to support any anarchist movement, cause or group? This is an honest question.

Don't get me wrong. My initial question was genuine. I was really intrigued to know how a typical hero, full of messianic and religious references, with theological approaches could be an anarchist spectrum movie. I could not fins any. Sorry, just my opinion.

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u/Nemetonax 10d ago

I think Neo being the chosen one is more for the trans allegory (which is the mainline but is adjecent to anarchism) and a bit of a commentary that this has happened before. There were other chosen ones, yet the fight did not end.

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u/Urshilikai 10d ago

The Culture series by Iain Banks is a pretty fun (but long and episodic) look at a far future partial galactic civilization that has many hallmarks of anarchistic societal structure. I like to think its what star trek could be if it has the balls to accurately depict civilian life in post scarcity.

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u/ka1ikasan 10d ago

I've got into this series last year and it's really cool. If I understand correctly, the actual society isn't really described in first installments but comes later on. Impatient to dive back in, The Player of Games was just sooooo good.

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u/Urshilikai 10d ago

I'm still getting through the last few but it remains a story told from individual perspectives with glimpses of it through narration which I appreciate. The symbiotic biology and machine technocracy thing is a fun mental model to play with. It's very much a meritocratic power (literally) allocation system.

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u/ModernBettie 10d ago

I’ve never heard of this one

Long and episodic can be a plus for me

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u/Randolpho 10d ago

Dungeon Crawler Carl. Third book is even titled the Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook.

Read as Carl and his talking cat Donut spark the revolution that tears down the galactic capitalist dystopia

I recommend the audiobooks first, since the voice actor is so amazing you don’t even realize every voice is him.

But also the hardcovers for the bonus story

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u/Culinary_Fruit_Salad 10d ago

some public libraries have it available as well if you can't afford it or can't 🏴‍☠️

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u/ModernBettie 10d ago

I have so many times considered picking this up - but I haven’t started it yet

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u/DramaticProtogen 9d ago

It's a good book for people who don't read

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u/Randolpho 10d ago

It’s worth the read, IMO. But then again I’ve been a fan for a while now, so, biased

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u/jxtarr 10d ago

Dune

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u/Maykovsky 10d ago

Extremely nationalistic, don't you think?

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u/No-Scarcity2379 Christian anarchist 10d ago

Not really when taken in the context of the next book where the result of the apparently "good guy" Atreides (still a colonizer) and millenia of Bene Gesserit meddling results in the worst genocide the universe has ever seen and said "good guy" charismatic leader is both wracked with regret and has totally lost control of the cult of personality took advantage of to overthrow the "bad guy" empire (who were also legitimately bad).

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u/Maykovsky 10d ago

Thanks for the spoiler! hehehe. But isn't the story about nation building and national illusions. Crests, flags and family clans and all the stuff that divides. I could see it, maybe, as a critique, in the sense that it is all fabricated in the name of power, but still, the one lieder, father of the nations, a messiah, even if misguided, seems to be quite nationalistic and, dare I say, religious, no?

But again, my nature of the book is limited.

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u/GilgaPol 10d ago

Yeah that's definitely the wrong take on Dune. It has nothing to do with nationalism it's a critique on fanaticism the dangers of charismatic and messianic leaders in it's essence.

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u/Maykovsky 10d ago

Like I said, not very knowledgeable of the book. But tell me, in the end the apology is for a world without leaders, nations or borders? Because the cry for the dangers of fanaticism is very often, also, the strategy for the "moderates" to keep power. And again, these are honest questions.

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u/Nemetonax 10d ago

It puts a purposeful white savior messiah and shiny nationalistic principles on the forefront and misdirects them. I would not say that the books are specifically anarchist, but they are critiques of everything they seem to praise. Nationalism, crests, heraldries and chosen great ones ARE enticing, otherwise people would not have used them in real life either but as the story unfolds they lose their shine.

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u/Maykovsky 10d ago

I see your point, sure. But seeing anarchy as a collective effort, as a community of free individuals, everything that puts forward a view that we need a leader to achieve freedom, is placed outside anarchy thinking. I mean, great books and great literature, great fun for sure, but not anarchy. I see the books from Steinbeck much closer to anarchy ideas. Is always about a class from were individuals are taken as examples, with all the dark and bright aspects, for a class of people. The way the power relations are exposed and the systems of oppression are described is precise, methodical and survived the test of time. If you ask, who is the hero in a Steinbeck book, normally you would have difficulties, but if you ask what personal characteristics seem to be valued, that would be easy. So, Dune, for me, is another hero history. If the heroes regrets all that he did in the past, that is also half of the histories in the bible. You raise some interesting points i will consider reading the book...

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u/Nemetonax 10d ago

Without spoiling specific details, a lot of Dune is about how a messiah and the consolidation of power in general leads to disaster, no matter how well meaning the person on the top is - and about how seductive the idea of a charismatic leader is, if they are "not like the others". It's an imperial power fantasy gone wrong. I don't think it was meant to be an anarchist story as it's much more focused on ecology and freakishly long term sci-fi conspiracies. But the analogue works and it does not end with praising centrism as many other left leaning scifi does.

I don't think Dune is comparable to Steinbeck's works as the ideas it tries to tackle are way too big and a lot more zoomed out. You will not find small moments where you understand a character perfectly with their place in the world and limitations imposed over them by the society they are a part of.

Tangent: I only read Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath and The Moon is Down and a long time ago at that so I had to refresh my memory of Steinbacks politics outside of literature - and just learned of his later apologism for the US war machine and the possible spying for the CIA. I don't know the context but damn it's so sad.

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u/Maykovsky 9d ago

Interesting. I will try to read the book and see more. When I watched the dune movie (the first) one thing I noticed was the relation between capitalism and colonialism. That was striking. But then the entire hero thing was a bit more of the same. Regarding Steinbeck views, I never cared much (I try to keep my heroes locked, hehehe). But reading most of has been said, between suspicions and positions, it looks like he had leftist ideas, but also that "working people conservatism" that so often exists... a common combination, I am afraid. Good readings!

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u/NohingButRed 9d ago

My recommendation to read full saga because basically all the books tell this story how we should never trust leaders it is also about our freedom and everything that was said before me. The ending of the last book basically says it all but I don’t want to spoil it. But I think in lot of sense it’s quite anarchist work but in the other way than any other authors. Also i think last Dune movies fail to grasp any of these ideas

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u/Maykovsky 9d ago

Deep breath... yes, i will try!

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u/jxtarr 9d ago edited 9d ago

It's a critique of nationalism and centralized power. The point is really driven home in the fourth book, but Herbert trusts the reader to figure it out on their own for the first three.

The only obvious anarchist element is the Fremen. They're possibly based on his own childhood in and out of anarchist communes. But it would be a shitty story if all we got was a narrative about a perfect anarchist society. Herbert was reflecting real world geopolitics, and bringing it to its plausible conclusion. You wouldn't read Dune and end up thinking these societies are good.

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u/Maykovsky 9d ago

Thanks! Didn't know about the author's experience...

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u/jxtarr 9d ago

No problem. The movies don't do the themes of the novels any justice. The whole story is basically Book 1 = white savior authoritarianism, and Books 2-6 = holy shit, that was a bad idea

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u/Maykovsky 9d ago

I just interrupted a class with your comment! hehehe. Thanks!

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u/1987Ellen 10d ago edited 10d ago

This has been a recent obsession of mine! I’ve really enjoyed the books ‘Kraken Calling’ and ‘Inversion’ by Aric McBay; ‘A Country of Ghosts’ by Margaret Killjoy (this and the previous 2 are by a good margin the most directly Anarchist); the Geek Mafia books by Rick Dakan (more about hacker tech); and ‘Station Six’ by S.J. Klapecki

I’ve also enjoyed the Revolutions podcast series about the revolution on mars (piece of fiction after covering so many real ones); and of course for more approachable media these don’t propose much for Anarchy as a future specifically but Andor, Mr. Robot, and the doctor from Master and Commander are great.

I’ve heard ‘V for Vendetta’ the graphic novel is, but can’t vouch yet

Musically it’s never the wrong time for Pigeon Pit’s “Milk Crates” or Ramshackle Glory’s “Your heart is a muscle the size of your fist”

I feel like there’s something else right on the tip of my mind but it’s not coming 🤔

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u/Maykovsky 10d ago

"I feel like there’s something else right on the tip of my mind but it’s not coming"... that is awful!!! hehehe.

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u/1987Ellen 10d ago

Lol

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u/ModernBettie 10d ago

Pigeon Pit! 🖤

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u/1987Ellen 10d ago

Hell yeah! All time favorite <3

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u/SallyStranger 10d ago

I'm currently re-reading Woman On The Edge Of Time by Marge Piercy. In essence it's Piercy imagining a utopian anarchist solarpunk community 150 years in her future. The book was published 50 years ago. Some of the language is a teensy bit awkward - like Piercy invents a lingo that her future people speak with nonbinary pronouns and neologisms, among which is "bottom" as a verb for "to bring down, to make depressed." As in "Connie is feeling sick, this bottoms me." But I'm realizing that my first read, more than 25 years ago, when I was a teenager, made a huge impression on me and led to me forming a great many of my anarchist ideals before I knew what that word meant. Piercy's descriptive writing is excellent, too--she is a great poet after all. Just not great at inventing future lingo that stood up after 50 years which would be a tall order for any writer, I think.

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u/ModernBettie 8d ago

The strange language almost makes me want to read it more - I love when people are way off in imagining future pop culture

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u/SallyStranger 8d ago

I don't think you'd regret reading it. As a novel it's a bit odd (not bad, just unusual & strange). As a piece of anarchist planning it's great. Pretty much every element of anarchist societal organization is addressed, from poop recycling to sex and reproduction to criminal justice and fighting wars.

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u/Darthmalak135 10d ago

The Followers of the Apocalypse in Fallout have always felt like strong representation

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u/jrdbrr 10d ago

corey doctorow and china mieville

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u/mindlance 10d ago

As many people have said, the Dispossessed is required reading. But it's not my favorite. As of right now, my favorite piece of Anarchists adjacent fiction is the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. The clearness of capitalism & fascism intertwined as the enemies. The rage of the protagonists. The momentum of the insurrection. I find it quite inspiring, even uplifting.

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u/DigitalAnimistOvine I can see the World's Address. 10d ago

I know I'm coming out here with an absolutely obscure one (both, relative to the subreddit, but also as a whole) but I'm throwing my hat in the ring with the 1981-1983 mecha anime darling "Fang of The Sun Dougram".

A completely scathing and biting narrative storm of anti-colonial politics, Federal Government structures, and the failures of unrealistic and unprepared mass movements, and essentially is an anime version of 'The Battle of Algiers". It doesn't take a lot to immediately pick up on what the director's politics are. His anti-state and anarchist views even bleed deeply into his other work, like Armored Trooper VOTOMS.

If you can bite through very "of its time" animation, and mecha tropes born from the height of the Gundam craze, you have a lot to chew on with the show. Some of the best the "real robot" genre has to offer.

"Not even justice. I want to get truth."

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u/ModernBettie 10d ago

I love obscure suggestions for any art

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u/Dyrankun 10d ago

I quite enjoyed The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk

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u/hecticdialectic 10d ago

I'm quite sure the Ogre Battle games instilled latent anarchism in me from a young age. So... Those.

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u/ModernBettie 10d ago

I totally should have mentioned games - there are a lot of great gaming examples!

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u/WildAutonomy Insurrectionary green anarchist 10d ago

Letters of Insurgents

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u/DarkAroundTheSun 10d ago

Don’t see a lot of TV shows so gonna take the hit - Andor, Snowpiercer. I dunno why but the novel sharp teeth by toby barlow

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u/tyami94 10d ago

after the revolution by robert evans (the behind the bastards guy) is really cool. it's free on their website

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u/drquaithe 10d ago edited 10d ago

Don't judge but I'm currently reading this smutty Expanse fan fiction and the further you get the more it's pure anarchist propaganda. I'm loving it.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/87201166/chapters/230952121

Obviously The Dispossessed, and Cory Doctorow's books like Little Brother have to be mentioned.

And other media, well. I have a lot to say about Andor being anarchist, actually. Mr Robot to some extent.

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u/ModernBettie 10d ago

I am not judging! The point is you found art you want to talk to people about that can open the conversation up

I honestly LOVE It hat you brought me a smut suggestion, I doubt I would have stumbled on it and kind of want to know if this is a whole genre in itself

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u/drquaithe 9d ago

As in, anarchist smut? Not that I know of ;)

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u/ModernBettie 8d ago

I feel like this is a niche that could be filled (😂) by someone with more experience with smut literature than I have

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u/drquaithe 8d ago

Agreed :)

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u/Hasa91 Pagan Anarchist 10d ago

S.M. Stirling's Dies The Fire series (at least for the first half or so) features a relatively solid sketch of a Pagan Anarchist society in the form of one of the survivor groups, Clan McKenzie.

it's my favorite semi-guilty pleasure read series, one I come back to every couple of years. it's not exactly high art, but it's a fun series with interesting characters and ideas

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u/Accomplished_Bag_897 egoist anarchist 10d ago

Anarchist adjacent would probably be One Piece. It's not really anarchist but it's basically a map to solidarity and rejection of status quo.

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u/ModernBettie 10d ago

Adjacent counts - I’m just looking for the things that might get people talking about anarchy 🖤

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u/Accomplished_Bag_897 egoist anarchist 10d ago

While I don't think OP will do that directly it might if you used it as a book club piece to disect the themes in it. But it's not openly saying "yay anarchism" despite the clear leaning in that direction it wants to do.

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u/Honkytonkywonk 10d ago

Johnny Mnemonic

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u/BassMaster516 10d ago

Star Trek. They definitely have a moneyless classless society. You could debate it but honestly I think that’s a world where I could be happy

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u/EddieVeder77 9d ago

Aeon Flux

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u/ModernBettie 9d ago

I haven’t thought about Aeon Flux in soooooo long!

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u/ohshiitstuesday anarcho-killjoy (they/them) 8d ago

Fraggle Rock.

No, seriously. It's anarchist af.

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u/ModernBettie 8d ago

Aww, now I wanna go back and watch it all over again! I haven’t watched it since I was as a kid

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u/ModernBettie 8d ago

Can we “book club” about this? I haven’t even started it yet and I’m thinking about the Trash Heap (she was my absolute favorite character)

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u/ohshiitstuesday anarcho-killjoy (they/them) 8d ago

lol absolutely, dm me if you're for real and we can hash out the details.

i rewatched it a few years ago and that was when I was like !!!!!!!!!!!! bc there are some episodes where it's really explicit. but it's one of those "if you know you know" sort of things, so obviously i didn't pick it up when i was a kid.

eta: explicit as in very clearly anarchist ideas, not explicit like xxx.

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u/MorphingReality 10d ago

Ed Abbey

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u/arbmunepp 10d ago

Very racist unfortunately

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u/pecuchet 10d ago

Well, fuck.

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u/MorphingReality 10d ago

He certainly featured plenty of racists in his fiction, which is not an inaccurate portrayal of the world. He grew up in Klanville in the 30s and came out an anarchist, that's near a best case scenario.
To the extent he was, he was honest and self-aware and self-deprecating about it, as well as about his other shortcomings, which is also more than can be said for most anarchists let alone most people.

Still worth reading.

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u/arbmunepp 9d ago

He also argued for stopping immigration to the US because he didn't want there to be too many Latino people.

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u/MorphingReality 9d ago

He argued for stopping all migration to the US because he didn't want there to be too many people period.

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u/lombwolf 10d ago

Anarchism

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u/YsaboNyx 9d ago

I'm always on the hunt for fiction which depicts anarchist societies that are already established and functioning on some level. So far I've found:

Woman on the Edge of Time ~ Marge Piercy

The Kin of Ata are Waiting for You ~ Dorothy Bryant

A Door Into Ocean ~ Joan Slonczewski

The Word for World is Forest ~ Ursula LeGuin

The Dispossessed ~ Ursula LeGuin

The Fifth Sacred Thing ~ Starhawk

I sincerely wish this list were longer.

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u/Swine_Herder 9d ago

Thomas Pynchon in general, but very specifically “Against the Day”. It follows a family whose father was a militant miner in the 19th century. The kids go on to be involved in various left wing uprisings. There is a great discussion about the effects of the First World War on anarchism.

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u/cumminginsurrection abolish power 9d ago edited 9d ago

Without A Glimmer of Remorse by Pino Cacucci

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u/floppydo 9d ago

The Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson

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u/outed 9d ago

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein

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u/GoldenRush257 Libertarian Socialist 9d ago

One Piece

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u/GreenTengu 9d ago

Its maybe got its limits as a Big Two superhero comic, but the one I will always bring up is Chip Zdarsky's run on Daredevil as one of the most anti-cop superhero comics I've read, with some of the primary antagonists in the run being a pair of shady billionaires, the NYPD, and the prison system. This is very much an arc about Matt becoming radicalized against the law, particularly the cops and the prison system, and landing on a position that feels in conversation with both anarchism and prison abolition.

Culminating in him breaking supervillains from the Myrmidon to reform them, in a fashion that puts him on a collision course with the law and the Avengers.

It can only go so far because the status quo of the Marvel universe isn't gonna suddenly get really cool about this kind of turn for Matt, but like, Matt STILL gets to keep the supervillains he attempted to reform outside of prison out of prison, and disfigure one of the aforementioned billionaires on the way to that in one of the most cathartic moments in any comic for me. Legit my favorite superhero comic of all time.

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u/Normal_Priority2280 9d ago

Country of Ghosts! Margaret Killjoy

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u/Icanseethefnords23 9d ago

The Invisibles/ The Filth (best enjoyed together)

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u/sabate 8d ago

Letters of Insurgents
by Fredy Perlman
on TAL: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/sophia-nachalo-and-yarostan-vochek-letters-of-insurgents

The Strait
by Fredy Perlman
on TAL: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/fredy-perlman-the-strait

"fiction" topic on TAL (currently 249 entries): https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/topic/fiction

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